8 spring trends and how to wear them

From summer florals to goddess dresses, here’s our fashion editor’s guide to making this season’s styles your own.

Words: Anish Patel

A free-spirited mood dominated the SS23 collections. Designers encouraged us to express ourselves through throw-on tailoring, body-positive goddess dresses and enduring everyday essentials. Read on for eight ways to make them your own this season.

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1. Futuristic fashion

In one corner of the fashion universe, designers created clothes that would look right at home in a reboot of The Fifth Element. Mugler’s creative director, Casey Cadwallader, fashioned nylon shell into gunmetal-grey and Galactica-blue mini dresses. At Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture show, guest designer Haider Ackermann blended sportswear with sci-fi, forging caged tops out of patent leather. It may sound avant-garde, but we can’t imagine anything better to go under this season’s androgynous tailoring (see entry three).

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MUGLER - Sleeveless debossed-shell mini dress

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER - Cropped net stretch-woven top

DI PETSA - Memories heat-sensitive faux-leather midi dress

RICK OWENS - Panelled peplum-hem stretch-cotton top

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Stine Goya SS23

2. Pick new-age florals 

Mother Nature has always provided endless inspiration to fashion designers. And before you mutter “groundbreaking” at our recommendation of florals, consider this latest crop. They ranged from bold blooms and vivid exotics at Dries Van Noten and Zimmermann to riotous yet pretty at Erdem. Stine Goya digitally enhanced watercolour florals to abstract proportions, providing us with patterns for a summer full of social plans.

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3. No more borrowing from the boys 

Jil Sander set the tone for androgynous suiting this season, creating slouchy, oversized jackets and elegant cigarette trousers that were smart but unstructured enough to have fun in. Meanwhile, Stella McCartney demonstrated her tailoring know-how with sharply cut two-pieces in canary yellow and red. Want to try something new for wedding-guest style this summer? This is it.

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JIL SANDER - Concealed-button single-breasted wool blazer

STELLA MCCARTNEY - Tapered mid-rise stretch-woven trousers wool

FRANKIE SHOP - Gelso high-rise pleated woven trousers

DRIES VAN NOTEN - Notch-lapel regular-fit woven blazer

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Bottega Veneta SS23

4. Try grown-up grunge 

Designers collectively lunged for grunge this season. But it wasn’t the teenage-dirtbag, indie-sleaze aesthetic of yesteryear. For SS23, designers applied the thrifty, too-cool-to-care spirit of original grunge to exquisitely crafted clothes in luxury fabrics. In short: grunge has grown up. Bottega Veneta led the revival, sending Kate Moss down the runway in a trompe l’oeil leather plaid shirt and low-rise jeans.

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Bottega Veneta SS23

5. Rethink your denim 

Runways were awash with denim this season. It was everywhere, engineered in every way, and on everyone. Straight-leg jeans dominated in Paris, with tassels and fringing at Chloé, and a Y2K sandblast effect at Jacquemus and Givenchy. Over at Alexander McQueen, Creative Director Sarah Burton reworked the little blue jacket with an off-the-shoulder cut and halterneck strap. In short: no denim craving will be left unsatisfied. 

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SACAI - Contrast-panel cropped denim jacket

ED DENIM - Upcycled OG Split Hem straight-leg high-rise denim jeans

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN - Halter-neck contrast-stitch regular-fit denim jacket

SANDRO - High-rise double-layer jeans

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Max Mara SS23

6. Consider quiet luxury 

If 2022 was all about maximalist dressing, 2023 is proving to be the year of quiet luxury. You might have seen the phrase thrown around on social media, thanks to Succession’s return to our screens – Shiv Roy is a walking ambassador for the look. Instead of attention-grabbing, quiet luxury is all about exquisitely crafted garments and subtle design details. Intrigued? Take a look at Lemaire and cashmere connoisseur Max Mara.

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7.  Be the main character

First came revenge dressing, now there’s main-character dressing. That means showstopping pieces that will put the spotlight firmly on you. This season, voluminous, surreal silhouettes and forward-thinking materials defined a fresh wave of formalwear. We saw overtly pretty tulle at Simone Rocha and voluminous, couture-like silhouettes at Issey Miyake. To try it on just for the night, look to Selfridges Rental.

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ISSEY MIYAKE - Ridge pleated recycled-polyester midi dress

SIMONE ROCHA - High-rise layered tulle midi skirt

ROTATE BIRGER CHRISTENSEN - Noon puff-sleeve midi dress

PRADA - Technical voile pleated satin midi dress

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Nensi Dojaka SS23

8. Fulfil your goddess fantasy

We called it in our spring dresses edit: goddess dressing is dominating. From corsetry to lace-trimmed gowns and sheer dresses, brands such as Ferragamo, Nensi Dojaka and Di Petsa focussed on celebrating the female form. This culminated in Coperni creating the most talked-about moment of the season, turning model Bella Hadid into Aphrodite reincarnate with a spray-on white dress. So, when you’re getting ready for cocktail hour, dress like an Olympus-worthy muse.

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